Travel insurance – which policy is right for me?

Travel insurance comes in all shapes and sizes, designed to cater for the variety of holidays and trips we’re likely to take during our lives.

Read our guide to help you work out what type is best for your next break away.

Single-trip travel insurance
It does what it says on the tin and provides you with cover for one holiday up to a certain number of days, eg 30 or 60. This can cover a single person, a couple or a family. Some policies will be ‘one size fits all’, others will allow you to choose the level of cover you want and customise to include winter sports, weddings, golf and other activities for an additional premium.

Annual multi-trip travel insurance
This type of policy lasts for 12 months and covers you for as many holidays as you want to take. It usually works out cheaper than buying several single trip policies. Again, you can insure a single person, couple or family and should be able to customise for an additional premium. You may find that the length of an individual trip covered is shorter than a single-trip policy but you may be able to request an extension at the time you take out the policy. Age limits could be lower than single-trip policies too.

Extended-trip travel insurance
Also known as gap year or backpackers’ insurance, extended trip policies provide cover for breaks of, for example, 61 to 365 days. However, the number of days can vary from insurer to insurer. This type of policy is suited to people planning round-the-world and other gap year-type breaks but while you may be able to cover individuals or families, you’ll find that age limits could be lower than single-trip or annual travel insurance. It’s also not an alternative to multi-trip travel insurance.

Student travel insurance
Many insurers provide specific travel insurance for students but they’re normally variations on the single trip, annual multi-trip and extended-trip policies they sell.

Older travellers
Most insurers have age limits to their policies but there are specialists in the market who can provide cover if you can’t find it elsewhere. If you normally get travel insurance from one provider, give them a call if you’re over their standard age limits to see what they can offer you.

Checking the policies
Whatever policy you choose, make sure you read through it carefully to ensure you’re getting the cover you need and are happy with the terms and conditions. Check the exclusions too so you know what will not be covered in case you need to claim.

Issued by Barclays
This article has been written for information and interest purposes only. The information contained within this article is the opinion of the author only, and should not be construed as advice or used to make financial decisions. Expert financial advice should always be sought and any links contained within this article are included for information purposes only.
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail banking (bank accounts and instant access savings accounts), credit cards, corporate banking, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 140,000 people. Barclays moves, invests and protects money and provides ISAs, home insurance, life insurance, a mortgage calculator, guides on how to buy shares and other services for over 49 million customers and clients worldwide. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.co.uk.